The present invention relates to a battery status or power condition indicating, system and more particularly to a system for determining the status or power condition of each battery in a multi-battery power pack in which the batteries are connected in parallel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,086 to Whitmire et al discloses a battery monitoring and condition indicator for a multi-battery pack in which the batteries are connected in series. The system monitors the condition of each battery in the multi battery pack to determine if any batteries in the battery pack are weakening.
Certain applications, however, such as diesel trucks and boats, require the use of a multi-battery battery pack in which the batteries are connected in parallel. Batteries are connected in parallel in such applications in order to increase the cranking amperage. In addition, in such parallel connected multi-battery battery packs, if all of the batteries are not providing the necessary power, due to one or more defective batteries, the vehicle may fail to start without warning. Since the batteries are connected in parallel, a voltage indicator will show the voltage of the battery in the best condition and provide no indication of the status of any other batteries in the parallel connection.